Winners and Losers – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers earned their first division victory of the 2018 season when they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in convincing fashion. However, the victory meant more to some players than others. Here are this weeks winners and losers from the game.

Winners

Yes, Curtis Samuel had a pretty bad drop in the first quarter. But he redeemed himself in glorious fashion with his two touchdowns. His rushing touchdown was a thing of beauty as he paid tribute to Michael Jordan while he crossed into the end zone. Samuel continues to be an up and coming star not just on the Carolina Panthers team, but in the NFL.

Christian McCaffrey is the most important player in the Carolina Panthers offense next to Cam Newton himself. So much hinges on the play of CMC. That fact was on full display yesterday as he racked up over 150 all purpose yards and 2 touchdowns. At this rate, McCaffrey could become the most productive back in Carolina Panthers history.

Defensive end Mario Addison recorded a career high 3 sacks and a forced fumble. The Panthers have desperately needed a pass rushing defensive end to show up, and Addison did so on Sunday. Addison just passed Kevin Greene on the Carolina Panthers all time sack leaders.

Losers

As usual, the losers on a day of solid victories turn out to be the guys not playing. Chris Clark lined up against JPP and held his own for the entire day. I am not sure we could ever say the same for Matt Kalil. In fact, I am not sure we will ever see Kalil on the field again barring injury.

Amini Silatolu is another offensive lineman that has apparently fallen out of the good graces of the coaching staff. Silatolu was on the inactive for the second week in a row, both convincing victories. That probably isn’t a good omen for his future on the team.